Nick Galasso grabbed most of the national headlines as the top
lacrosse recruit in the country during his high school career (and
his name admittedly appears in this article first). But at West
Islip on Long Island, close observers knew the unmistakable impact
Galasso's classmate, Andrew Hodgson, had on the Lions' program,
particularly on their back-to-back state championship teams in 2009
and 2010.

Hodgson, a midfielder and current Towson freshman, often played
second fiddle to the North Carolina-bound Galasso, the attackman
who finished high school as Long Island's all-time scoring leader.
But at the end of their stellar run as Lions, when blue, gold and
white hats were made up to celebrate their career and
championships, the hats included emblems of Galasso's No. 5 and
Hodgson's No. 11 -- and no one else's jersey number.

"He's tight with both hands, can stick the ball, he can play
defense. He's good. He's very good," Towson coach Tony Seaman said
of the dynamic, athletic Hodgson, who had 51 goals and 44 assists
as a senior and won 55 percent of faceoffs. "I try to downplay that
as much as I can, but I think he's every bit as good in the
midfield as what Galasso does on attack, maybe even more as far as
overall impact. We're thrilled with him."

Hodgson may have scored the most overlooked 95 points for a
state title-winning team in the country last spring, but he is set
up to make an impact his freshman season at Towson. Not only
because of his talent, but also because a fluid midfield situation
at Towson calls for it. The Tigers graduated Christian Pastirik,
who played midfield and attack, and midfielder Will Harrington.
They were the team's top two scorers last season.

"He's going to play," Seaman said of Hodgson after watching him
up close during fall ball.

Hodgson's not the only freshman who will probably see time.

Tom DeNapoli, another versatile Long Island midfielder from
Lynbrook, has proven himself worthy of playing time through fall
ball.

"He is as good an athlete that's ever been here, all-around,"
Seaman said of DeNapoli, who starred at football
(quarterback/running back), basketball and lacrosse at Lynbrook.
"I'm still shocked that big-time football didn't go after him. Now
that he's going to be a lacrosse player, everybody's probably going
to say to me by the end of his sophomore year, 'Where did that kid
come from?' In the weight room, running and sprints, everything he
does he's No. 1 or No. 2. He's 6-1 and 190 pounds, tough and could
easily be our starting defensive midfielder, but that's where we
probably have the very most experience."

DeNapoli would have to debunk Peter Mezzanotte, a stalwart who
enters his fourth season as Towson's starting defensive
midfielder.

Midfielders Robby Zoppo (Calvert Hall, Md.) and Zach Brown
(Governor's Academy, Mass.) have also risen to the top of a huge
group of Towson freshmen -- 21 overall, true and redshirt. With
Hodgson, DeNapoli, Zoppo and Brown leading the way, it's a solid
first-year group.

"Those four kids have made the seniors and juniors more nervous
than anybody else," Seaman said. "Our main interest this fall was
to look at our sophomore juniors and seniors who are returning
who've been on the cusp or borderline of playing and not playing.
See if any of them made some gains over the summer and give us a
reason to not put as much on emphasis on these four freshmen. But
these four freshmen have proven themselves this fall. We really
need to take an honest look at them, especially the Hodgson kid and
DeNapoli. Those two kids are going to play."

All four are versatile, too, Seaman said.

"They can all play attack. DeNapoli played both, Hodgson could
easily play attack. He could be anything I want him to be," he
said. "Zoppo played attack for Calvert Hall as a senior, midfield
as junior. And Brown is an attack-midfielder. That gives us some
versatility. We'll probably run some more invert than we have in
the past."

FALL BALL BLITZ

Team: Towson
2010 Record: 7-82010 in Review: Towson reached the CAA
championship game for the second straight year and lost for the
second straight year, this time to Delaware, 12-9. The Tigers
missed the NCAA tournament, and it was thought that Seaman's job
was in jeopardy because of that, but in June he signed a new
three-year contract through 2013.

Goodbye ... Chris Pastirik and Will Harrington.
The team's top two scorers last season with 47 and 34 points,
respectively, graduated and left some holes on offense. Senior
attackman Tim Stratton (15 goals, 18 assists in 2010) will be asked
to lead the unit. Junior midfielder Carl Iacona, who sat out fall
ball with a knee injury but will likely be cleared to play in two
weeks, should also see an increased offensive role.

Hello ... Besides the "four freshmen," Towson
has two redshirt freshmen on defense who will try to work into a
unit that includes returning starter Marc Ingerman, and juniors
Kevin Lalley and Mike Landy. Ben Strauss (Lynbrook, N.Y.), played
three games in 2010 before going down with a knee injury, but
"proved he can play at this level," Seaman said. John Fennessy
(Yorktown, N.Y.), a US Lacrosse high school All-American, also took
a medical redshirt last season and could play a lot this year,
Seaman said.

Offseason Developments: Seaman signed the
contract through 2013 and former Johns Hopkins assistant coach Dave
Allan joined the Towson staff. Allan's son, Mike, is the Tigers'
offensive coordinator.

Big Question: "The big question is our
midfield," Seaman said. With the graduation of Pastirik and
Harrington, the talented freshmen midfielders may play large roles
for the Tigers as they embark on a tough spring schedule. They have
early-season games against Johns Hopkins, Loyola, Mount St. Mary's,
Maryland and Navy. "It's nice to have some great freshman that you
can talk about to everybody, but they're still freshmen and that's
scary to me," Seaman said.

A question that may also arise at some point during the season
is, "Who is Towson's starting goalie?" The Tigers appear to have
two capable starters in senior Travis Love and redshirt sophomore
Andrew Wascavage. Love was the starter last season, posting a 9.24
goals against average and 55.6-percent save percentage.

"Love is back and did a great job, and he's being pushed as hard
as anybody can by Andrew Wascavage," Seaman said. "Right now,
before the season starts, it's a wonderful situation to think that
you have two Division I, potential All-American goalies. It's
horrible during the season, with all kinds of controversy. They
both played well this fall."

Fall Schedule: Towson held an alumni game Oct.
2 and scrimmaged Villanova and Lehigh Oct. 9 and 10 at the
Colleluori Classic. The Tigers have now entered the individual
workouts portion of their fall. Players go through hour-long
workouts about twice per week, going through position-specific
drills.